A study, published by The Atlantic, suggests that the larger the age gap between a person and their spouse, the higher the chances that the marriage will end in divorce. As the figure suggests, if spouses have one year age gap they are 3% more likely to get divorced than individuals who are of the same age. If the age difference crosses twenty years, the couples are over 172% more likely to get divorced.

Between now and 2060, the progression towards a demographic “rectangle,” rather than the traditional triangle shown in 1950, will have taken shape. These are part of an extensive and insightful Pew Research project about shifting US age and race demography.